The argument as to whether or not Aspartame is safe has been going on for a long time.

On one side we have medical evidence that aspartame is harmful, but on the other side, the FDA’s approval suggests it is safe. So which argument is true?

Remember; the FDA was held created as protector of the people and its role is to scrutinise all food and drug products to ensure they are safe for consumption by the population of the United States of America.  The FDA is such a grandiose organisation, that when it approves a product or a medicine, many other countries accept FDA findings without question.

The FDA long ago approved aspartame as fit for human consumption, but in the light of the over whelming medical evidence to the contrary, we must ask why?  You would think that something so widely used and so well accepted would have a pristine story leading to its acceptance?

The aspartame story began in the mid 1960's when a chemist employed by the G.D. Searle corporation accidentally created the sweetener aspartame while trying to create a cure for stomach ulcers. Searle tested aspartame which eventually led to its approval by the FDA.

Not long after, serious health effects began to arise and G.D. Searle was severely criticised  for their poor testing practices. It was revealed that the testing process for Aspartame was among the worst the investigators had ever seen,  and after retesting, they concluded that the product was unsafe for use.

This finding triggered the first criminal investigation of a manufacturer by the FDA. In 1977, the FDA sponsored three independent studies which concluded that one of the main consequences of consuming aspartame was that it had a high chance of inducing brain tumours.

As a consequence of these studies and their findings, aspartame was banned in 1980.

Now comes the part that the USA is famous for:

Early in 1981, Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (who was a former US Secretary of Defence) vowed to “call in his markers,” to get it approved. Rumsfeld was in a position of power and influence as he has served as Chief Executive Officer, President, and then Chairman of G. D. Searle & Company, the worldwide pharmaceutical company based in Skokie, Illinois that was later purchased by Monsato.

The day after Ronald Reagan’s inauguration, (21-01-1981 ) Searle re-applied to the FDA for aspartame’s approval for use.  Ronald Reagan's new FDA commissioner Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry’s decision.

It did not take long for the panel to decide 3-2 in favour of maintaining the ban of aspartame. Hull then decided to appoint a 6th member to the board, which created a tie in the voting, 3-3. Hull then decided to personally break the tie and approve aspartame for use. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety He then served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College before taking a position with Burston-Marsteller. Burstone-Marstella, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle.

It's clear that Rumsfeld had the political clout and with the assistance of Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr, this product has generated into a billion dollar a year business. Aspartame went through a process of investigation where it was banned, but that ruling was overturned by powerful people with vested interests.

It is clear to this point that if anything the safety of aspartame remains in question as it has come under fire by scientists, doctors, chemists and consumers about it’s safety and neurotoxic properties. Comprehensive independent studies claim to show aspartame is a cause for over 90 serious health problems such as cancer, leukaemia, headaches, seizures, fibromyalgia, epilepsy and more.

All the scientific studies done on aspartame have been carried out on 'healthy' animals. Unfortunately the human population is not very healthy. We live in a chemical and radioactive soup that is so rapidly eroding our health, that despite our increasing population, the rapid rise in infertility will if not reversed lead to our extinction in the near future.

It's more likely that aspartame when consumed mixes with other chemical in the body to produce toxins that then destabilise the organism. We live in a toxically over loaded world and avoiding this toxin would benefit our health.

Since 2010, aspartame which is not very stable in commercial use is giving way to Sucralose (E955) which is more  than twice as sweet as aspartame.